Our Christmas was absolutely wonderful! We had so much fun with our families, including our church families on Saturday and Sunday. Most of my family lives within an hour's drive (or at least in Alabama), and I so often take for granted the fact that I get to see them on holidays. I know not everybody has that luxury. We trimmed down our schedule this year so we could actually spend some time with each family, instead of rushing from house to house. I think it worked out well. I'm grateful to have family members who understand, who are flexible and don't get upset when we have to shake up tradition.

Gunter felt well on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which was a huge blessing! I actually tired out before he did. My brother's fiance, Page, also had some health issues this week, but she didn't let it get her down. I was glad she got to celebrate with us. She proved to be a formidable opponent in Family Feud.

And finally, what would Christmas be without a gathering of the Elbians? We're getting together with our "Elba" friends tonight, in Enterprise, as always. If we adhered to tradition, we would eat at Ruby Tuesday, bowl two games at Boland Lanes and pile into one vehicle to ride through the "Christmas house" yard. But, since we're all growing up and some of us (ahem) have to be at work in the morning, and others have small children, we might forgo the bowling this time. There has also been talk of supper at Old Mexico, so I'm sure we're in for a fun evening.

I've been reading in 1 Timothy lately, and today I read chapter 6, where Paul urges Timothy not to pursue riches or empty gain. I think it's a good after-Christmas lesson. Here are some excerpts:

"For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out
of it. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content... But flee
from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, perseverance and gentleness...

"Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or
to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies
us with all things to enjoy."

Welcome to our blog! I was inspired to begin a blog because I am nosy and enjoy reading other people's blogs so much. I also want to help our family and friends keep up with us, even though we hope Gunter's adventures in cancer treatment should become a lot more routine by the end of March.

It's silly for me to have the urge to communicate about my life because I already communicate all day long. In my waking hours, if I'm not writing, I'm talking. If I'm not talking, I'm usually going over various mental lists or pondering ways to solve the world's problems. As if I need something else to take up my time or force me to make decisions... "What should I write?" "Which picture should I post?" "How can I make this sentence less wordy?"

I'll probably get "in trouble" with Gunter for starting this blog. I'm a lot more willing to share with unidentified members of an online audience than he is. I need to be careful about that, too, since it's more difficult to track who views my blog than it was on my Facebook account. I was doing so well since I was weaned off Facebook, but now I'm creating for myself another addiction. Besides, I tend to run off at the fingers.